Like my two boys, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate yesterday’s birthday than talking about food. Apart from our family, it was the true love of her life. It’s such a joy for her, especially if it was for me and my kids. And through all Elana’s health challenges, she always found a way to improvise what she enjoyed her meal. And while Elana enjoyed preparing all kinds of food, chocolate was definitely our love language. No matter what type of meal we always enjoyed the chocolate bar. So when thinking about my favorite Elana dishes, they all had chocolate!
Low carb buckeye peanut butter brownies. I had to start with these as I know that all of our family loves everything with peanut butter and chocolate. What’s less well known is that Elana also loved peanut butter. She has never eaten it as much as I did and usually went to healthier almond butter. But this is where Elana and I connected… Peanut butter and chocolate.
Crispy chocolate chip cookies. This is where it all began. Comes with chocolate chip cookies from almond flour. This was a game changer. At the time it was far better than any other gluten-free cookie, and was either an incredible dessert or a very healthy breakfast or post-exercise snack. Limited sugar protein.
Chocolate pecan pie. This was probably what I said most – when Elana asked her what dessert she wanted to make. Again – Nuts and chocolate… what’s wrong? This has become a staple for Thanksgiving. And whenever we really wanted to decadence. Add whipped cream especially to the top. This was another huge Elana favorite (minimal sweeteners and vanilla).
Homemade chocolate candy bar. I had a lot of these in the freezer. excessively. Of course, Elana took them out and cut out the pieces to eat. I just took out one and started to melt with my fingers as I ate them. This was Elana, who was trying to make a healthy, gluten-free treat that our kids could eat, love, and that their friends could love as well.
Homemade Hanukkah gel. I had to mention this recipe with Hamantashen. First and foremost, there are Jewish holidays, but Elana really loved the holidays. It was when we were together as a family – and even after our children left the nest, she loved any festival pageants and food.
Gluten-free birthday cake. I’m not usually a cake lover…but this was amazing. Mostly because of incredible frosting. Frosting was extremely important to Elana. I spent hours and ensured that I frosted the wedding cake correctly. But this is special as it speaks to the brightest and brightest places Elana. It’s about making food for kids, especially birthdays. It was the origin of Elana’s pantry – how to make gluten-free treats that will work for their birthdays. So many amazing clowns and bunny cakes over the years.
Elana leaves a widespread legacy in terms of her influence. But seeing our two boys’ love for food and passion for cooking is a constant reminder of Elana as a mom. Her terribleness – miss her as a wife, co-friendly friend – but send her lots of hugs and chocolate kisses today. Happy birthday E. Love R.
